Spike



Aug. 8, 1939 v. c. ARMSTRONG SPIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1938 1 4 3mm Vicforaflrmsirory,

8, 1939 v. c. ARMSTRONG I 2,169,132

S P I KE v Filed March 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 72 II Fig. 411.

Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE srnm Victor 0. Armstrong, Short Hills, N. .L, assignor to Poor & Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application March 5,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to spikes, capable of various different uses but particularly intended for use in fastening railway rails either directly upon cross ties or upon abrasion plates interposed between the ties and the rails, and has for its general object to provide a spike which embodies a resilient head to yieldably grip a rail or other element to be fastened so that the rail or other .elementmayyield under the influence of forces imposed thereon, and which, at the same time, is of siinple, one-piece construction, thoroughly practical, efliclent in use, and of low production cost.

A special object of the invention is to provide a spike having a resilient head portion which includes a holding or retarding member which extends inwardly beyond the shank of the spike to resiliently bear upon the flange of a rail, the said holding or retarding member being joined with the spike shank by a loop disposed outwardly of the shank whereby the holding member effectually exerts a retarding action against movement of the rail while accommodating itself resiliently to such movements. It is also a special object of the invention so to relate the head of the spike to the spike shank that the portion of the head which is struck by a maul or the like in driving the spike is, to all intents and pinposes, rigid with the spike vertically, so that the spike may be drivenwith practically the same facility as an ordinary spike. In other words. despite the resiliency of the head of the present spike, said resiliency is not disadvantageous in,- sofar as concerns driving of the spike because it does not cause the maul unduly to spring upwardly from the spike when the latter is struck. Another special object of the invention is to provide a spike with a resilient head so formed that it cooperates with the top surface of the element into which the spike is driven, or with the top surface of a plate or the like superim-' posed upon said element, to tend to cant the holding arm or member of the head into engagement with the element to be fastened, thus to cause said holding arm to exert practically a directly downward and an intensified holding pressure upon said element. With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully ,apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in a spike having a resilient head nd embodying the novel features of construction as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims. 7

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in related views:

Figure 1 is a section view showing one practical 1938, Serial No. 194,200

Figures 3, 4, and 5 are views similar to Fig. 1

illustrating alternative forms' of the present spike; and

Figure 6 is a plan view of the assembly shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be observed that, according to each of the different forms of the invention, the present spike com prises a shank, designated as S, and ahead, designated as H; that the spike is formed from a bar of stock (preferably spring steel), of uniform cross sectional size and shape throughout its length, having its upper end portion bent to provide the head H; and that head H includes a holding arm or member ll extending laterally beyond one side of the shank S for engagement with an element to be fastened, an open loop ll disposed laterally beyond the opposite side of the shank, a portion l2 connecting said holding arm or member with the top portion of said loop, and a. portion l3 of inverted U-shape connecting the bottom portion of said loop with the top of the shank S. Thus, in each instance, the holding arm ll is resiliently joined with the shank S.

element, such as a rail R, is to be fastened, with the holding arm ll ,overlyingta portion of the.

latter element, such as a flange ll of the rail R, said yieldable holding arm permits said fastened element to yield upwardly under the influence of forces imposed thereon. In connection with railway rails this is very important, as the rails are subjected in service to a vertical wave motion which should be permitted to pass uninterrupted through the rails without being transmitted to the cross ties.

It will be observed, too, that in each instance the lower portion of the loop ll of the head H of the present spike is. disposed below the junction of said head with the shank S. Consequently, when the spike is driven until the bottom of its loop I I engages the top of the cross tie or other element T, or engages an element such as an abrasion plate l5 superimposed upon said element T, the head H is supported against being, in effect, rocked about the top of the shank S by the resilient upward pressure of the fastened element R upon the holding arm in and said holding arm therefore exerts its holding force substantially directly or vertically downward. At the same time, by reason of the downward and outward disposition of the bend at the top of the shank which merges into the bottom portion of the loop II, the effect of the action described is definitely to exert lateral pressure against the upper portion of the spike tending tightly to bind the same in the spike hole and resist tendency to loosen or lift .the shank from the tie. In this connection it is preferred, but not essential, that the points of engagement of the holding arm Ill and the loop H with their related elements be spaced substantially equidistantly from the shank S so that the upward pressures against said holding arm and loop are balanced, as in this way there are avoided any lateral thrusts upon the shank which would tend to loosen same.

Obviously, if the spike is driven beyond the point at which its holding arm Ill and loop ll contact with their related elements R and T or their equivalents, said holding arm is sprung upwardly relative to the loop H and said loop is sprung upwardly relative to the shank S, with the result that the holding power of the spike, although remaining resilient, is materially intensifled. Of course,' while it is preferred that the loop H contact at its bottom with a supporting element, this is not essential and the spike may be used with its loop H entirely unsupported at its bottom.

According to the Figs. 1 to 4 forms of the drawings all portions of the head H are dispwed in the plane of the shank S and the connecting portion l2 between the holding arm l0 and the loop ll overlies the inverted U-bend l3 and is in contact therewith, the said connecting portion l2 preferably being curved corresponding to the curvature of the inverted U-bend 13 as shown so as to contact with a considerable portion of the latter. Thus, although it is the portion l2 that is struck when the spike is driven, said portion l2 transmits the blows to the shank in practically the same manner they would be transmitted if said portion were rigid with said shank, and there 'does not occur any undue upward springing or rebound of the maul or other driving implement.

" According to the Figs. 5 and 6 forms of the invention the'connecting portion [2 between the holding arm l0 and the loop ll is laterally offset with respect to'the shank S and lies below the 'inverted U-bend 13. Consequently, the said inverted U-bend I3 is exposed'to be struck directly by a driving implement; r

According to the Figs. 1 and 2 form of the invention the inverted U-bend I3 is open at its bottom and there is gradually curved mergence of'said inverted U-bend with the loop ll. As distinguished from this, the inverted U-bend I3 of the Fig. 3 form of the invention is closed at its bottom and the bottom of the loop H is straight and flat and has a sharp or abrupt junction with said inverted U-bend. This Fig. 3 form of the invention provides for a relatively extensive bearing of the loop II with a supporting structure as is apparent.

The Fig. 4 form of the invention is the same as the Figs. 1 and 2 form except that the free end of the arm I0 is directed downwardly for end contact with the element to be fastened; whereas, according to the Figs. 1 and 2 form of the invention, the arm I0 has a dished curve and is designed to contact at its under side with the element to be fastened. is

Obviously, the spike may be used with its shank Without further description it is thought that the featues and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood, that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A rail spike comprising a shank and a head, the portion comprising the head extending from the top of the shank first outwardly and downwardly and then upwardly in the form of an open loop and then inwardly beyond the inner face of the shank in the form of a rail flange engaging and holding arm, said loop being disposed in a substantially vertical plane outwardly of the shank and serving to resiliently connect said arm with said shank, the bottom of said loop being disposed a distance below the rail flange contacting portion of said arm so as to be adapted to contact with the upper face of a tie or a tie plate when the arm is operatively engaged with a rail flange.

2. A rail spike comprising a shank and a head, the portion comprising the head extending from the top of the shank first outwardly and downwardly and then upwardly in the form of an open loop and then inwardly across the top of the shank and beyond the inner face thereof in the form of a rail flange engaging and holding arm, said loop being disposed outwardly of the shank in a common vertical plane therewith and serving to resiliently connect said arm with said shank, the bottom of said loop being disposed a distance below the rail flange contacting portion of said arm so as to, be adapted to contact with the upper face of a tie or a tie plate when the arm is operatively engaged with a rail flange.

3. A rail spike comprising a shank and a head, the portion comprising the head extending from the top of the shank first outwardly and downwardly and then upwardly in the form of an open loop and then inwardly beyond the"inner face of the shank in the form of a railflange engaging and holding arm, said arm being disposed to one side of said shank and below the top thereof to expose the latter to directly receive driving blows, said loop being disposed in a substantially vertical plane outwardly of the shank and serving to resiliently connect said arm with said shank.

4. A rail spike for use with a tie place having an upstanding rib disposed at the outer edge of the rail flange, said spike comprising a shank and a head, the portion comprising the head extending from the top of the shank first outwardly and downwardly and then upwardly in the form of an open loop and then inwardly beyond the inner face of the shank in the form of a rail flange engaging and holding arm, said loop being disposed in a substantially vertical plane outwardly of the shank and serving to resiliently connect said arm with said shank, the bottom of said loop being disposed a distance below the rail flange contacting portion of said arm so as to be adapted to contact with the upper face of a tie or a tie plate when the arm is operatively engaged with a rail flange, the rail flange contacting portion of said arm being disposed below the portion of said arm which overlies the tie plate rib to insure clearance of said arm from said tie plate rib when said arm is in holding engagement with the rail flange. 

